UFC and Strikeforce to Enforce Pre-Contract PED Screening Policy

Less than an hour after former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal was busted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for using a banned substance, Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the UFC and Strikeforce, announced all future signees will be subject to a mandatory pre-contract screening for performance-enhancing drugs.

“We’re committed to the health and safety of our athletes and we take it very seriously,” UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said. “We already work closely with athletic commissions to protect our athletes and now we’re taking it one step further.

“We’re going to test any potential UFC or Strikeforce fighter before finalizing their contract. This shows that we don’t want performance-enhancing drugs in our sport.”

All current Zuffa athletes will continue to be screened for PEDs, both prior to competition and at random, in accordance with athletic commission rules and regulations.

In May, the organization announced that nearly 350 of Zuffa’s independent contractors would be eligible for customized accident insurance coverage that covers accidental injuries suffered by athletes while training, as well as non-training incidents such as automobile accidents.

“The health and safety of our athletes is our top priority,” UFC president Dana White (Pictured) said. “We’ve seen the issues performance-enhancing drugs have caused in other sports and we’re going to do everything we can to keep them out of the UFC and Strikeforce.

“Our athletes are already held to the highest testing standards in all sports by athletic commissions. Our new testing policy for performance-enhancing drugs only further shows how important it is to us to have our athletes competing on a level playing field.”